FranchiseVerdict
Acai Express logo
FV-00059·MODERATEExcellent81

Acai Express

Food & Beverage - Juice & SmoothiesFranchising since 2014Website
Investment
$146K – $429K
14th pct Juice & Smoot…
Avg revenue
38th pct Juice & Smoot…
Royalty
6.0%
19th pct Juice & Smoot…
Units
46
52nd pct Juice & Smoot…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $146K – $429K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 11 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 72.7% CAGR over 3 years with 46 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Acai Express Franchising Inc.
Incorporated in
Puerto Rico
HQ
Urb. Caribe #1569 Calle Alda, Suite 302, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00926
Auditor
Reese CPA LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.6M
vs $2.1M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Acai Express unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $146K–$429K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$20K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$75K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$302K
Payback
48 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Acai Express franchisees operate quick-service health-focused beverage and smoothie bowl concepts, typically in high-foot-traffic retail or food court locations. Day-to-day operations include preparing fresh acai bowls, smoothies, and juice drinks, managing 3–8 staff, handling POS systems, inventory ordering, and maintaining health/food safety compliance.

CEO
Hector F. Westerband
Founded
2014
FDD year
2023
States available
5

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$146K – $429K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $20K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
46
Opened
10
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
8
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
83%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+35.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+72.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
38+12
Franchised units
2022
28
Franchised units
2023
22
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 17 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 17 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
11
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

Acai Express exhibits caution-level risk: aggressive growth metrics paired with zero financial transparency, unclear franchisor stability, and insufficient unit scale to validate the model's viability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (avg revenue and net income not disclosed) prevents ROI validation
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential franchisor financial instability or operational uncertainty
  3. 03MEDHigh unit growth rate (35.7% YoY) without disclosed profitability metrics suggests possible unsustainable expansion or franchisee churn masking
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($145,850–$429,000) lacks transparency on what drives 3x cost variance
  5. 05MINORSmall unit base (46 locations) limits system maturity and increases failure risk if key franchisees exit
  6. 06MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue creates blind spot for actual franchisee margins and break-even timeline

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Puerto Rico

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
40 hrs
On-the-job training
41 hrs
POS system
Touch Bistro
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

19 numbers

Locked
(213) 576-••••
CA
(860) 240-••••
CT
(360) 902-••••
WA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Acai Express · FDD (2023) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above